Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To be clear in regard to the public commentary around schools reopening, if the current health guidelines remain as they are we will be facing a partial reopening. If the Deputy had listened carefully to what I said in my public commentary, he would have noted that I said I am working with my officials and the public health officials in the Department of Health, who are learning all the time from the European and international experience, and I am looking at the different advice and monitoring it.

I will state publicly that I am confident that advice will change. We will be in a better position before I make the announcement at Cabinet on what that advice will be. What I said was very clear. The modelling we conducted around current health advice would mean a partial return, but we engaged with health officials and are constantly getting new evidence. We are learning from the likes of Denmark, which has primary school children back, and Greece and France which have 15 students in each classroom. I am learning from the likes of England, as I spoke to Gavin Williamson two weeks ago, and from Peter Weir in Northern Ireland, to whom I spoke yesterday. We are going to learn from those experiences and I reassure people that it is our intention in the Department of Education to maximise the return of students at the end of August and into September. There is no ambiguity around that. That is our intention, but obviously we are going to be guided completely by the health advice. At the same time, the health advice has been very clear and when Dr. Tony Holohan briefed us recently he said that while it is his job to give advice and guidance, it is not his job to do a risk assessment. That is a job we are doing now. The Deputy said schools have not been notified, but the reason for that is that we are waiting on this advice. I will bring a memorandum to Cabinet next week and at that time I will publish the advice. That is when the principals and the leadership in the schools will find out.

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